I was talking to Jen about me going to Brazil and explaining how the difference in electronic items are so big:
For birthday + Xmas last year my parents got me an iPod Touch. I guess it costs right now about $230 dollars. If I take it to Brazil, used, as it is, and sell it on eBay (in Brazil eBay bought a site called "Mercado Livre", which I prefer personally), the prices range from $300 to $350, used! So I can sell it for $300 dollars, come back here, buy a new one again and have extra $70 in my pocket... That works for any electronics. Basically, in the US everything made by machines and with "intelectual value" (e.g. technology) is cheap, and expensive in Brazil. In other hand, in Brazil, everything that is hand-crafted or done by people is cheap. But this has been changing a lot since I was a kid. With the globalization, things made by people are cheap in the US, because it's now made by Chinese people.